What We've Been Reading: Working From Home

I guess you've heard the news: Yahoo's Marissa Mayer has put the kibosh on employees working from home, which sent the internet into a fit. And understandably so. Granted, the majority of those speaking out against it were those who do a majority of their work outside of an office, but the backlash was still understandable. At Contactually, we have people working remotely quite often -- some solely work remotely, and there isn't an issue with that. And this past Wednesday, on which we had a massive press push, we essentially had the entire team working out of the office due to inclement weather and we didn't drop a beat. While that may not be sustainable forever and ever, it does help knowing that we can still function that way.

The argument for whether or not one should work from an office space or from home basically comes down to company culture. Does the culture allow for the employees to work remotely or does it encourage them to work from the office? I don't believe either is inherently bad. It just depends on the employee and the employer.

Amid all the theoretical talk about how Marissa Mayer's work-from-home ban is a terrible policy for America, those actually affected don't sound too upset about anything, really. In fact, it's working rather well as part of a broader cultural shift under Mayer at the flailing company.

When "work" isn't synonymous with "going to the office," it allows companies to keep great employees who aren't willing or able to move. Plus, without physical water cooler gossip, every employee has to commit to communicating to get things done.

The case for working from the office:

Although working from home can provide a quiet sanctuary away from a bustling office and gossipy coworkers, it can also present a different set of distractions. Suddenly, the laundry you've been meaning to do becomes irresistible, and you're two hours from where you started.